12 volt refrigeration

[Gallivanters]

Does anyone have experience with using a large (1/4 ~ 1/2 horsepower) 12 volt DC refrigeration compressor in their cruising sailboat?

To Life!

Kirk

[gosstyla]

I have the Glacier Bay Micro HPS system. No sure but think the compressor is around 1/2 hp.

[Gallivanters]

Gosstyla,

Thanks for the reply!

What sort of sailing do you do? How many batteries do you have and how do you keep 'em topped up?

How many holding plates are in the box(es)?

How long have you had it?

And... are you satisfied with the overall performance of the refrigeration unit?

Thanks,

Kirk

[gosstyla]

The boat is just being finished, however I've been living on it and testing systems since September - don't have shore power. I'm in Valdivia, Chile 40S.

Have 3 8D AGMs rated as 690AH. No problem topping them up since I have 2 Glacier Bay 25KW 240VDC gensets. I average about 1 hr of run time per day however currently it usually is done as 3 hrs every third day. During that time I charge the batteries, wash and dry a load of laundry, cook meals for the 3 days, heat up the water.

I have 2 plates in the frig and 2 in freezer both boxes are about 10 cu ft. It takes 1 hr of compressor time to freeze the frig holding plates and 2.25 hrs for the freezer. The hold over period is highly dependent upon the water and air temperature. In September and October with water temp about 50F and air temp daily low about 35F and high about 55F the freezer's cycle was about 48hrs and the frig about 96hrs. In December and January with water temp about 70F and air temp daily low about 45F and high about 75F the freezer's cycle was about 15hrs and the frig about 30hrs. I believe the above are valid numbers for the frig since I use it and the box is usually 25% to 50% full. However, I haven't used the freezer just run it from time to time to gather test data. So the above numbers were taken with the freezer empty except for a couple of gallons of water to give it a little heat load.

The frig has 4 inches dynacell foam and the freezer 6 inches.

So far very satisfied, however will wait until I complete my first 6 months anchored out in Boca del Toro, Panama before making a final judgement.